Corn Stalkers: FLL European Championship

June 10th.
We left the hotel at 7:15 a.m. with suitcases in tow for the mile walk to the train station. Not once did a student complain about walking so much on this trip. They were grateful troopers. We boarded the8:06 for Frankfurt airport. The ICE bullet train delivered us quickly and then the long walk through the gigantic international airport unfolded. Thank goodness the escalators were working this time. We got our tickets, grabbed a mini breakfast and headed for customs. All was going well until they split our group. We had told them we needed to stay together but thegerman authorities had other plans..argh! I had 4 bins of electronics and stuff but had no problems other than the recombobulation process. Then the weirdness started with Bella, Julia, and Gwen being wanded all the way down and over shoes,. Which is odd they didn't make us take them off in the first place...and we asked. Then Gwen's bAg was completely searched(she'd forgot her phone was inside. Mr. Carlson was taken into a room to have the robots removed, all of the other contents too. And he had to explain their purpose. That made his blood pressure go up! As all of this was going on, rude people were pressing in front of Tim and John...moving them back in the line and separating us. We never lost sight of their faces but it was concerning nonetheless. Officials allowed us to wait for them because we were "NOT LEAVING" the area with out them...PERIOD. They breezed through so off we headed to terminal Z gate 25. Seriously, the last united airlines spot in the entire airport. That was a twenty minute walk more. So three hours from when we left the hotel, we now could sit and wait...oh and of course play cards and eat again until it was time to leave.

One last game of "luggage Tetris" and we settled into our seats and waited for take off. A lot more sleeping happened on this flight than the first. Every meal or snack served included more bread..which the kids were now laughing about. A fairly smooth nine hour flight but with a dicey landing at o'hare and we were back in Illinois. One hour later we were in line at customs and nearly home free. But Bella got a snarky official who grilled her and told her she had lied in her re-admission card. He was not nice to her at all. Soon we all gathered, Mr. Carlson grabbed the checked baggage, and we headed for the arrival area. There were the smiling faces of most every parent! What a welcome sight with plenty of hugs for everyone! The last Corn Stalker was picked up at the curb with coaches leaving just a few minutes later. Smooooooth. An adventure of a lifetime comes to an end...or does it?

A South African judge must be contacted about our solution. A volunteer must be thanked. Follow-up with the Independent should be considered. And the process for the Peace Park must be completed by summer's end.

Be thankful! Be humbled! Be kind!

June 9th.
It's our last day at the OECD and we have to be at our area from 9-noon should a category judge want to talk to us again. The crew is very lethargic today because of time differences and the fact they have had little "down" time since we've arrived.
Three judges for teamwork stop by our pit right at nine. The crew answered questions but were not as enthusiastic as in the past few days. After they left mrs. Gabrielson pulled them into energy circle activities. It really got interesting when We asked Israel to join us! Expanded circle, singing, dancing and pictures ensued for the next fifteen minutes. At least four kids stayed by the table all morning with side jaunts to meet others and take goodbye picture and get correspondence options finalized.
We we
Nt into the robot performance arena to watch the top eight teams compete. Wow the energy was intense! We just cheered for every country with American flags and Sheldon faces to root for teams. Hilarious how many kids from around the world know Sheldon Cooper! It was a conversation great ice breaker.
A few girls, john and mr. Carlson went for a gellato break and some shopping. Mr. Carlson earned some serious points for doing that so three could stay with two coaches to watch the intense robot matches. The first group got back just in time to see the last one for the championship between China and Japan. The kids on the big screen looked so stressed. So much pressure for them as they represented their country. China took the top spot but everyone congratulated Japan as well. Fantastic gracious professionalism exhibited.
John Stevens won the spot to represent the Corn Stalkers when collecting participation medals at the closing ceremonies which began at 3:30. He also sweetly accompanied a very young participant from down under(Australia) who was terrified about going in alone. She held onto his fungus costume tightly. Way to go John! We came in shortly after and then John joined us just before final entertainment and awards presentations started. there were drummers, dancers, cheerleaders and speakers. The Moovers from Illinois earned a top inspiration award! We proudly stood with USA to recognize them. Same for the CA tem when they won for mission design. Malaysia won the biggest award and all agreed deservedly. Amazing camaraderie in that space!

Then it was back to our pit to clean up and get one last picture with our friends from Israel whose robot and supplies had burned at the hotel. You see there is one thing I have left out. One of their sweet scarved girls had come over for a chat and we discovered when they were to return they only had one robot to work with for their group. Mrs. G did a little recon with Lunbna , their coach, to see if this was correct. We often mixed thing during earlier translations. The situation was true. So being ambassadors we decided we needed to help...that's what Americans do! We went over as a team, an NXT brick with a battery and charger inside a bag, to give as a gift so their program might continue. We presented it to Lubna, the other coach and a few of their team who was around. We explained it was our custom to help those in need and that we we inspired by their desire to continue at the event having evident fun all along. The coach was speechless, most teared up, we blew kisses and walked away. It was our second defining moment as for the purpose of our being invited to Germany!

Just before the awards, Jogi or SAP volunteer mentor had person bags for each team member. He had purchased them himself..so generous. We will find something special from the US to send back with thanks for all nis assistance.

Area cleared we waved our good-byes and schlepped our belongings back one more time. Of course we stopped for gellato to bolster our reserves for shopping. A change of clothes and the kids could choose palace and Rhine river viewing or souvenir and department store shopping. Tim and John and Mr. Carlson chose the first and the rest selected the latter. Good bargains were purchased and we all met up to make dinner plans. They all wanted ...can you believe it...pizza! Afterwards they came back and played games, told jokes, and just relaxed. We thought they would get a good last night's sleep BUT Germany won a big soccer upset against Portugal, the streets were noisy with cars and honking celebrations until almost midnight! Oh well. With bags packed, we were ready to head home early on Sunday.

Safe travels tomorrow Corn Stalkers! You made District 200, Woodstock, Illinois and the USA proud!

8:30 a.m. Awards and Closing Ceremony. Here is the live feed http://streaming.mcon-mannheim.de/1/page/Calendar.aspx.

Live Streaming - June, 2012 - Desire2Learn Capture Portal

Last day of FLL European Championship

June 8th
Wow! The girls made it to the coaches room ten minutes before the boys! Schlepping the three suitcases full of robots, loops and costumes, we headed for Crimminger bakery. Now they are open and the kids picked great stuff for breakfast. We ate outside like europeans and did not rush like Americans. It was great...as always there are laughs.
We too into the event center and hear horns as we travel up the escalator. It only got louder as we approached our pit. Brazil, Spain and Israel are a raucous lot but having so much fun! It is the French with their blue horns that was ear debilitating.
We got them into costume, came up with a corn stalker cheer, and waited to join the parade. We were at the end (alpabetical...U.S.!) but it was worth the wait. To enter that Arena with all of those countries represented by costume and color and voices was something special to witness. To chant "U.S.A" and represent everyone was exciting for everyone. We never saw mrs. G. Again until we were seated. She had gone in ahead of us to record our entrance. Her willingness to take pictures and video of so many moments is truly a gift for our history of this special opportunity. Despite the cacophony the energy was almost tangible. If goosebumps are a representation of that, then it was real!
Off to lunch and then prepare for The first round . our robot earned 104 pts. With Tim and John directing. then we got our costumes on, Jogi came by to guide us to our other three categories' room. Their research project was their BEST ever! And call it irony or fate.. But one of our judges was from south Africa! I believe it is the reason they were meant to come because he loved their solution and knew local farmers who would be interested in their idea. He even gave them his personal email address. Maybe this is the next step in the journey to make a difference in the world!

At core values - they had the most tangled human knot - so the judges told us with a smile. Plus it didn't help that Bella was still in her millipede outfit so she had extra hands! Ha!
During tech design, Sheldon performed wonderfully!although the judge demo china said the photo head of the character Sheldon was intimidating. Then Jogi put in the fungus outfit, we took pictures and followed him around the barf in the hall, back upstairs to our pit. We will miss him!

Kari and Anicca, having only worked with the robot for a week, had a good showing at the table too. Back downstairs for another snack and drink before we packed up to go back to the hotel to freshen up and return for dinner later. Of course some had to stop at the gelato kiosk.

We trekked back to the friendship night "talent show" which had examples of stuff from around the world. There were dances and short plays and songs and magic acts and more. At 9 we left and of course more needed to stop for gelato. Lights out at 10:30 for everyone.

June 7th
Well we headed for our favorite morning bakery and found nothing was open because it was a religious holiday in this district of germany. Our choices were ironically...McDonald's and Starbucks...can you believe it? Mrs. Carlson would not step foot in Mickey D.''s because of what she learned during food factor this year. Most grabbed a muffin and off we went to set our pit area. We hung our orients
Trading USA panels which look awesome with our trifold boards and Sheldon and the rolling pictures of all our gifted challenge corps friends back home. Then we pulled out the pins, necklaces, and candy corn to share. The corn stalkers were amazing ambassadors! They met soooo many children from around the world. They played cup games with our neighbors and hugged a "Panda Bear." they exchanged food products which some times they grimaced and other times nodded and smiled with a new interest. Always polite they would venture out.
We struggled with power supply that was blowing a circuit somewhere between China and brazil. We were in between. But a nice man named Chris assisted us...twice! Then we met Joagim(our mentor)for the tournament. He had us call him Jogi( likeYogi) to help us. He was so important the next day. We really will miss his wonderful attitude. The different partners went to practice in the robot pit and did very well. Many people said they couldn't believe hoe well our little robot did because it was so simple a design.
The kids used their lanyards tags to eat lunch and get many beverages. Tim had every possible option hole punched. John would try whatever was available. Most of the rest of us loved the late afternoon snack cake. We packed up and went pack to the hotel to freshen up ...and dress up for a traditional German dinner across the street from our hotel. Going back to the rose garden center was voted out after witnessing the long lines and the fact that it was "pasta night!" ha!
The kids tried snitzels and spaetzel and German strudel and ice cream and red grits with ice cream. Julia liked the sprite tasted so much better in Germany because they use real sugar. Kari loved the heaps of ice cream. They all were respectful and thankful upon our departure. It wasn't over yet.
Back to the hotel to make our entrance sign for the parade of countries...plus we went over our tech notes and refreshed our lines. At nine o'clock we sent them off to just hang before lights out at 10. Big competition day tomorrow!

The friendship night on the live feed is great! Tune in if you can!

Saw you singing "We Will Rock You" Coach Carlson on the live feed! It was fantastic!

Dear Parents,
Please feel free to tag yourself in any of the photos posted. There are some great ones!

Taken right after the skit in the judges room. Coach Carlson states, "They did AMAZING!"